Passing the Mantle
by Soraga
Summary: Two years after the End War, the Koprulu Sector faces a threat even greater than Amon. To save them all, the Doctor must seek help in the very depths of the Void. There are forces not even the Time Lords dared meddle with.
1. Chapter One: Koprulu Burns

**A/N:** I originally wrote this as a way to shake off the rust. It took on a bit of a life of its own, like all plot bunnies are liable to, and I decided to fix it up and post it.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _StarCraft_ or _Doctor Who_.

 **Chapter One: Koprulu Burns**

 **Dylarian Shipyards  
2510**

Taking to heart the lessons learned from raids by Raynor's Raiders and the United Earth Directorate, the Terran Dominion had fortified the Dylarian Shipyards to a degree second to Korhal itself. An extensive network of picket ships and sensor towers blanketed the entire Dylar system, and squadrons of rapid-response craft sat with weapons and engines hot to intercept any and all intruders. A constant direct line linked the Dylarian Shipyards to the Cerros Shipyards at Korhal, and even a temporary disruption of communications would bring a fleet of Gorgon-class battlecruisers rushing to investigate.

Alarm klaxons blared, drowning out the din of the Dominion Fleet repairing and resupplying. Power-suited Marines rushed through the corridors, manning bunkers and hastily setting up crew-served weaponry. Battlecruisers slowly rose from their berths, joining the clouds of Wraiths that screamed through space to intercept the intruders.

"Sitrep!" demanded General Billie Virgo as he burst into the command center.

"Sir, two hundred battlecruiser-sized objects have appeared in orbit around Dylar IV! Second Fleet is en route to intercept!"

The General's eyes bugged out. _Two hundred_? Not even the Protoss could field a fleet that large!

"Alert Korhal! Have them scramble the Gorgons!"

"It's no good, sir. They're overriding our distress calls with an all-clear!"

"Second Fleet is taking heavy casualties! Laser batteries aren't even scratching the enemy ships!"

"Additional contacts! Fifty more battlecruiser-sized objects have breached the inner defense zone!"

The drydocks erupted in flames, taking with them a dozen battlecruisers sitting at anchor. Clouds of tiny fighter craft poured from the enemy ships, swatting rapid-response aircraft out of the sky and mercilessly tearing apart the defenders below.

"We're being boarded! Hull breaches in Sectors Three, Five, Eight, Twelve, and Sixteen!"

The command center's blast doors glowed red-hot for a split second before exploding inwards with great force. Grating voices, the whirring of servos, and the harsh buzz of energy weapons filled the air, and General Billie Virgo knew no more.

* * *

 **Imperial Palace, Korhal IV  
Three Days Later**

The history of Korhal IV was marked with great suffering: the Terran Confederacy had bombarded the world with nuclear weaponry as an example to rebellious worlds, and rebuilding was well underway but still incomplete when the Zerg Swarm invaded Augustgrad. The second invasion had left surprisingly little damage, but vast swathes of Korhal still lay abandoned as the Dominion's strained resources were directed to more pressing needs.

Shortly after the war against Amon, Emperor Valerian Mengsk took advantage of the fragile bonds forged in the face of utter annihilation to reopen diplomatic relations with the various factions of the Koprulu sector. The Kel-Morians came first, tempted with the prospect of a new trade treaty. The Umojans followed soon afterwards, their distrust assuaged somewhat by the new Emperor's upbringing. Just as the people of the Dominion were slowly acclimating to foreign ambassadors on Korhal, a Daelaam warp prism appeared in orbit bearing a single Preserver and a probe that quickly set about teleporting an embassy building from Aiur. There was very nearly a diplomatic incident when Overqueen Zagara accepted Valerian's invitation and sent an ambassador of her own; the planetary defenses around Korhal nearly fired on the Leviathan before Admiral Horner hurriedly stood them down.

* * *

Arcturus Mengsk was surely rolling in his grave, and conservative factions of the Dominion government raked Valerian over the coals. At the current moment, the new Emperor paid his critics little mind, as his efforts had already paid dividends. For starters, the string of attacks throughout the Koprulu sector led to a rather tense meeting within his office rather than the mobilization of fleets and armies.

"You've already had the chance to read the _White Star_ 's report, I assume," Valerian tossed the stack of papers onto his desk, "The Dylarian Shipyards were completely annihilated. The drydocks, fueling facilities, ammunition dumps, and two-thirds of the Fleet as it sat at anchor. Whoever was behind this could only be interested in one thing: crippling the Dominion military. And I'm afraid to say they succeeded."

"Several of our broods have also gone silent over the past few days, and our scouts found their worlds scorched completely clean of life. We've only just noticed a pattern in these attacks: they're in a straight line towards Char. The attackers have ignored anything even slightly off-course, and…hold on, I am receiving an update," Alexei Stukov tilted his head, muttering to an unseen party for several moments before blanching, "Char Aleph is under attack by golden shi-"

"The Hierarch would never sanction such an action, especially not at a time like this!" Preserver Rohana growled with uncharacteristic anger, her eyes narrowing, "Before I lost contact with Aiur, I received reports of a fleet besieging Saalok itself. Fully half of the Golden Armada is either falling out of the sky or burning in their docks!"

"It was not my intention to accuse," Stukov raised his hands in a placating gesture, "Quite frankly, I doubt even the Golden Armada could field so many ships, and the level of technological sophistication is beyond any race in the Koprulu sector. Char's defense forces alone count three hundred battlecruiser-sized ships, and more are arriving with each second."

Admiral Matt Horner and newly-christened General Jim Raynor stood to Valerian's left and right, respectively, and the three men shared nervous glances as they sensed the rising tension. The tension near-instantly evaporated as the Admiral Horner tilted his head to the right while double-tapping his earpiece.

"Admiral Horner he-," Matt was seemingly cut off by the person on the other end, and he paled.

"A fleet has just appeared within the Cerros Shipyards' inner defense perimeter. They're trying to get as many Gorgons off the ground while they still can," the Admiral relayed moments before his face wrinkled in confusion, "It seems the enemy ships are transmitting something. Unencrypted, all channels. They've even managed to hijack the UNN broadcasts."

Hands imperceptibly trembling, Emperor Valerian reached into his desk for a remote control and switched on a screen embedded in the far wall. The office was oppressively silent as the television scanned for a signal, and every head snapped towards the door as it quietly swung open. A man in a brown tweed jacket strode through, taking a nervous glance at the room and its occupants before throwing his hands up in surrender.

"Well, I don't suppose you'll believe I got lost looking for the loo?" the stranger drawled, "No? Okay then, I'm the Doctor, and if you'll put those guns away…"

Whatever the Doctor wanted to say was drowned out by a grating staccato voice repeating one word over and over.

" _Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!_ "


	2. Chapter Two: Guardians of Koprulu

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _StarCraft_ or _Doctor Who_.

 **Chapter Two: Guardians of Koprulu**

 **Imperial Palace, Korhal IV  
Two Hours Prior**

The quiet of the modest suite was shattered by the sound of a TARDIS materializing, the blue police box phasing into existence in the far side of the bedroom. The doors cautiously slid open, and a hand holding a sonic screwdriver poked out. The device pulsed several times before the owner stepped out of the box entirely, eyes taking stock of his surroundings. A desk piled high with intelligence reports, an unkempt bed, and a night table with the owner's few worldly possessions.

The Doctor wrinkled his nose in disgust as the smell of alcohol assaulted his senses. A partially-consumed bottle of whisky lay open on the night table, next to the badge of a Confederate Marshall and a framed picture of a beautiful redhead in military gear.

"Doctor?" Amy questioned as she and her husband cautiously stepped out of the TARDIS, "Where are we?"

The Doctor's eyes flitted between the badge and the picture, cold realization dawning upon him.

"Doctor?" Rory cautiously approached the Time Lord, eyebrows creased in concern.

"Amy. Rory," the Doctor slowly turned towards them, "Get back in the TARDIS and lock the door."

The couple immediately obeyed, whirling around just in time to see the TARDIS doors lock. They futilely jiggled the handles, banging on the door several times for good measure, before turning back towards the Doctor.

"Listen to me very carefully," the Doctor's voice dropped to a whisper, "There are forces here not even the Time Lords dared interfere with."

"Doctor?" Amy spoke with all the confidence she didn't feel, "What are you talking about? Where…when is 'here'?"

"We're on Korhal IV, year 2510. Center of the Terran Dominion, and two years after the races of this sector forged an alliance to slay a mad god. A new emperor on the throne, poised to lead humanity in this sector to a new age of peace and prosperity."

"So it sounds like everything worked out," Rory interjected uncertainly, "So why are we here?"

"During the Time War, an entire Dalek fleet invaded this sector. Even if the Koprulu sector hadn't spent the last decade in constant warfare, they couldn't have possibly stood a chance. And yet, the Daleks were annihilated in minutes. Right in orbit around this world, just a few hours from now."

* * *

 **Imperial Palace, Korhal IV  
Present Time**

"Well," the Doctor muted the television with a pulse of his sonic screwdriver before loudly clapping his hands together, "I believe some introductions are in order."

A telltale breeze in the doorway alerted the Doctor to another presence. He pretended not to notice.

"Amy, Rory, meet Valerian Mengsk, second Emperor of the Terran Dominion," the Doctor continued down the line, grabbing each person's hand and vigorously shaking it "Preserver Rohana, formerly a…keeper of memories is the short version, and now ambassador of the Unified Protoss. And this is Alexei Stukov, formerly an Admiral from Earth and now the representative of the Zerg Swarm to the Dominion."

The Doctor subtly turned his body to face the still-open door. Amy and Rory awkwardly waved at each introduction.

"And let's not forget Matthew Horner, Admiral of the Dominion Fleet, and Jim Raynor, General of the Dominion Special Forces," the Doctor's smile briefly fell as both men's expressions hardened.

The Doctor suddenly made a grabbing motion and seemingly wrestled with an unseen object. Even Amy and Rory feared their longtime friend was having a fit of some sort. The Time Lord's sanity was vindicated as a pair of silvery goggles suddenly materialized in his hands, followed by a woman with short blonde hair and a form-fitting suit. The Doctor paused, staring into the woman's eyes for several seconds.

"You've stopped mind-wiping them?" the Doctor turned towards Valerian.

"Reforming the Ghost Program was one of General Raynor's earliest initiatives," the Emperor recovered quickly from the interruption, though his hands still hovered over the pistol at his hip.

"Anyway," the Doctor took several steps towards the gathered dignitaries, pulsing his sonic screwdriver and forcing a Spectre out of cloak before continuing, "I'm here to help you with your Dalek problem."

* * *

 **Dalek Extermination Fleet Flagship  
Approach to Korhal IV**

The extermination fleet's first wave ignored what little resistance the Dominion could muster, the golden saucers screaming past the unwieldy battlecruisers to strike at the planet below. The cloud of Dalek warships split into squadrons of six, each assigned a sector of Korhal's surface to cleanse of life. Aerial Daleks swarmed the skies, ripping through any Terran aircraft sent to meet them. Several Gorgons broke off and attempted to intercept the extermination squadrons, which only left them flat-footed when the second wave slammed into the Dominion defenses.

"Squadrons commencing attack!" a Dalek officer grated out

"Extermination of all inferior life-forms estimated complete in thirty kilo-rels!" another screeched from across the bridge.

"Prepare the mining platforms," the Supreme Dalek boomed, "The humans' destruction will pave the way for our plundering of this world."

"Alert! Alert! Receiving incoming message!" another staccato voice reported, "It is the Doctor!"

"Hello," the Doctor waved, "Fancy seeing you lot here!"

"All squadrons, intensify bombardment of Korhal's capital district!" the Supreme ordered.

"Koprulu Sector," the Doctor deliberately rolled the 'r', "That's a fun name, now isn't it? So tell me, you come here hoping to wipe out the inhabitants, blast apart a few dozen worlds, and plunder the resources needed to keep fighting. Did you even think for a second that this sector was protected?"

"You have nothing, Doctor," countered the Supreme Dalek, "The fleets of this sector are annihilated, its armies broken."

"Ah, well, I don't get to say this often, so listen up," the Doctor kicked back in his chair, "I'm sitting this one out. This sector _already_ has protectors, and I'm going to bet they'll be none too happy with you."

"A thin deception," retorted the Supreme, its voice somehow brimming with arrogance, "The Xel'naga thought themselves gods, yet were exterminated in the end."

"You see, you're going to feel something no Dalek has ever felt before in the next few minutes. You're going to wish that you were up against me," the Doctor charged ahead, "Because you see, I would have given you a chance to flee. You wouldn't have taken it, but I would have given you the option before blowing your fleet out of the sky. This time, though? I don't think you're getting that option."

With that statement, the viewscreen blinked off.

* * *

 **Emperor's Office  
Imperial Palace, Korhal IV**

"The Dalek fleet's intensified their firepower around the Palace!" Horner reported as another explosion shook the room.

"What were you hoping to accomplish besides making them angrier?" even the Doctor backed away from Raynor's anger.

"Doctor…" Rory nervously whispered, "Please tell me you didn't just make all of that up."

"Well…" the Doctor trailed off, "They may need a little convincing."

Without another word, the Time Lord and his human companions made a mad dash for the TARDIS.

"Doctor, where are we going?" Rory demanded, gasping for breath at the end of their sprint.

"The Void," the Doctor answered as he pushed the TARDIS door open.


	3. Chapter Three: Judgement of a Time Lord

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _StarCraft_ or _Doctor Who_.

 **Chapter Three: Judgement of a Time Lord**

Under normal circumstances, to deliberately enter the Void was considered nigh-impossible and extremely inadvisable. The presence of Ulnar addressed the first concern, and the present circumstances took care of the second. The TARDIS protested every second of the journey, and its passengers feared it would shake itself apart. After an eternity, the blue police box materialized, and its inhabitants stumbled out onto the dark, featureless plain.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Rory moaned.

"Promise me we'll never do that again," Amy concurred.

"Hello there!" the Doctor bellowed into the darkness, "Are you there?"

"This is the Void. Normally a realm of absolute nothing," the Doctor turned to his companions between shouts, "This one place is the only exception, so watch your step. Fall off, and you'll never stop."

"So…" Amy instinctively pressed her back against the TARDIS, "What are we looking for here?"

"Not what, _who_."

"Who are you? Why have you come here?" a fourth voice echoed, impossibly loud in the Void's emptiness.

Amy and Rory looked up to see a winged woman seemingly made of pure energy. Something about the new arrival spoke to a primitive, primal part of their minds and the couple slowly backed away. The air grew insufferably heavy, and both humans were soon forced on all fours. The Doctor seemed unperturbed and approached.

"Leave this place. There is nothing for you here," the voice echoed again.

"Sarah Louise Kerrigan," the Doctor's declaration gave the woman pause, "That's your name, isn't it?"

The heaviness evaporated, and the former Sarah Kerrigan shrunk down to human stature and stood before the trio. Through the blinding light that emanated from her being, a look of confusion was visible on her face.

"Who are you?" the reverb of Sarah's voice died down.

"I'm the Doctor, and the Koprulu Sector is being levelled by Daleks as we speak. I'm taking you back through Ulnar with me, whether you like it or not."

Kerrigan's expression twisted into anger, and the Doctor was thrown back. He crashed into the TARDIS, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs.

"You will do no such thing," the glow grew brighter once more as Sarah Kerrigan rose back into the air.

"I get it," the Doctor gasped, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, "Who knew the woman whose name once made the entire Koprulu Sector tremble in fear was such a coward?"

"Doctor…" Amy reached out warningly, only for the Doctor to push past her.

"So this is your plan? Your idea of penance?" the Doctor's voice rose with every syllable, "To simply seal yourself away in the Void for all eternity?"

"Yes," Sarah replied simply.

Those who met the Doctor learned to fear the Time Lord's raised voice. Those who travelled with the Doctor knew that the time to run was when he grew quiet.

"How many?" the Doctor hissed, eyes narrowing.

Much to Amy and Rory's surprise, Kerrigan looked away.

" _How many?_ " the Time Lord roared, grabbing the golden woman's shoulders and forcing her to eye level.

"Eight billion…" Kerrigan's voice cracked, "One hundred and forty-nine million, one hundred fifty-seven thousand, five hundred and sixty-nine."

"And you think those eight billion souls would be satisfied?" he twisted Sarah around and forced her to look him in the eye, "That after so much blood and death and sorrow and misery and terror, that simply running away into the Void would even _begin_ to atone for your sins?"

"You already have eight billion souls on your conscience. Are you willing add another _eighty_ billion to that?" the Doctor released the woman and allowed her to sink to the ground, "You could stop the Dalek fleet with a thought, wipe them from existence, and you won't lift a finger to help? You might as well have killed them yourself."

The Doctor drew a step back and took a deep breath.

"You're the last of the Xel'naga: the very ones who derived the Skasis Paradigm, and the only ones in all the universes who ever solved it. They understood that wielding the very forces of creation was not a blessing, not a privilege: it is a burden. An obligation to watch over and guide the other races, and you are going to fulfil the duties of your mantle."

"Who are you?" Sarah echoed again.

"You want judgement? You want atonement?" the Doctor seemingly ignored her question, "Then, Sarah Kerrigan, I shall sentence you. I'm the Doctor, and I'm the only one who _can_ judge you. Take those eight billion souls you butchered. Multiply that number by a thousand, then another thousand, and you will have an idea of how much blood is on _my_ hands."

The Doctor knelt down to the Xel'naga's eye level.

"The difference is, I didn't hide away: I fought to create a universe that might just justify what I did. You will do the same. Sarah Louise Kerrigan, I sentence you to live. Every time you look in the mirror, you will be reminded of every atrocity you have ever committed. Every time you close your eyes, you will hear the screams of every soul you murdered. You will never forget a single face, a single name. And you're going to take those memories to remind yourself what will happen if you fail, because your atonement will be stewardship of the Koprulu Sector."

At long last, Kerrigan tilted her head up to look the Doctor in the eye.

"You're going to watch over them, the Terrans, the Zerg, and the Protoss, and guide them to a brighter future. You're going to watch over them until the last star in the universe burns out. Then, and only then, may you return to the Void. But not for long, because you're going to reignite the fires of creation and seed the universe with light and warmth once more. And you're going to watch over that universe until entropy claims it. And the next. And the next. For eternity."

"Very well," Sarah closed her eyes and bowed her head, "I accept this sentence."

"Oh, and one last bit of advice?" the Doctor hauled creation's last Xel'naga to her feet, "Don't try the whole 'lonely god' routine. Trust me, I've been there, and it _never_ works out."

* * *

 **Surface of Ulnar  
One Hour Later**

Amy and Rory helped the Doctor haul the cocoon out of the TARDIS with barely-disguised relief. The pod's leathery surface rippled beneath their hands, and their proximity to it only magnified the sense of sheer _wrongness_ that the cocoon emitted. The Doctor's eyes widened as the chrysalis began to shake.

"Amy, Rory…" the Doctor turned to the couple, " _Run_."

The trio dove behind an outcropping as a bone spike punched through the shell. A clawed hand followed, then a second bone spike. A burst of psionic power shattered the shell, and a birth-scream echoed throughout Ulnar's abandoned halls. Fortunately for the bystanders, most of the released power was vented upwards into space.

The Doctor and his companions cautiously approached as Sarah Kerrigan drew herself up to her full height. Her face, framed with dreadlock-like tendrils, may have passed for human had it not been for the pale green skin and purple pupils. Her frame was slim, yet athletic, and covered with heavy purple skin weave reinforced with segmented brown carapace. A pair of enormous bone wings extended from her lower back.

Only the look in Kerrigan's eyes signaling impending doom as she caught sight of herself in a nearly puddle, pausing for a second while staring down at her clawed hands. A sudden psionic shockwave bowled Time Lord and human alike over.

"No…Nonononononono," she repeated as a mantra, "I can't go back like this…I can't!"

The Doctor surged forward as Sarah grabbed a handful of her waist-length tendrils and bought the fingers of her other hand together to ignite a golden psi-blade. He grabbed ahold of her wrist and forced the blade down, grunting with exertion as she struggled in his grasp.

"Sarah Kerrigan, listen to me! What you are now is beyond a human mind, a human body. It has to be this way: anything else, any other form, and your mind _burns_."

He noticed the fingers of Kerrigan's other hand coming together, and he grabbed the wrist moments before a second psi-blade formed. The Doctor instinctively flinched as he noticed the bone wings whip forward, though they never moved to attack. Rather, they settled in almost the perfect position for her to…

"Amy! Rory!" the Doctor called, nearing the end of his stamina, "Grab her wings! Don't let her bring them forward!"

Despite their reflexes screaming otherwise, the two rushed forward and carried out the Doctor's instructions. Both were surprised and nearly thrown off their feet by how much strength such thin limbs possessed.

"Rory," the Doctor ground out between gritted teeth, "You're the one closest to her ear. You've got to talk her down!"

"Me?" Rory exclaimed in surprise, "What can I say?"

" _Something clever!_ " Amy screeched, throwing her weight backwards in a futile attempt to restrain the bone wing.

Rory thought for a moment, his memory flitting back to their arrival on Korhal. The words came to him naturally.

"He never gave up on you, you know," Rory declared in a barely-audible whisper, "He keeps a picture of you next to his bed."

The wings slackened slightly, and now that Amy could spare the energy to think about it, the other woman's face _did_ resemble the redhead from the photograph.

"He tries to look strong, like he's moved on," Rory's voice grew louder, "But I've seen eyes like his before. They're the eyes of a man who's lost his reason to keep living. He's a General now, got the ear of the Emperor and everything. But I can tell that he only took the job because otherwise, he'd be sitting in a bar on some backwater planet drinking himself to death."

Amy nearly tumbled back as the force behind the wings evaporated entirely.

"You speak from experience…" Sarah whispered.

"It's a _long_ story," Rory released the bony limb, locking eyes with his wife and exchanging a meaningful look with her.

"But I think we have enough time before reaching Korhal to tell the short version," Amy finished.


	4. Chapter Four: Korhal's Last Stand

**A/N:** So this is the last of the prewritten chapters. I do know how I intend to end this, however, so the remaining chapters should be up over the course of the next few days, and the next chapter of _Code Geass 50k_ shortly after that.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _StarCraft_ or _Doctor Who_.

 **Chapter Four: Korhal's Last Stand**

 **Imperial Palace, Korhal IV  
Two Hours Later**

The TARDIS materialized in the courtyard outside the Imperial Palace itself, and its passengers stepped out to behold a scene of utter devastation. Dead marines and destroyed Dalek travel machines were strewn about the courtyard, and the sounds of gunfire echoed. Augustgrad burned in the background, the skies choked by vast columns of smoke as the extermination fleet set about its grim task with industrial precision. Dozens of golden battle saucers hung in the skies over the Imperial Palace, disgorging waves of aerial Daleks to smash the original defenders.

"There were over six billion people on this world," the Doctor broke the stunned silence, "The Daleks have probably exterminated half of them by now."

Amy, Rory, and Sarah followed the Doctor's gaze to see a cluster of battle saucers flying low and slow in tight formation. The protective armor slabs had slid away, revealing large-scale beam weaponry that scorched the surface below.

"Standard Dalek battle tactics. Divide the surface of a planet into squares, assign a few ships to each square, and commence the slaughter."

Sarah Kerrigan had taken off in a sprint towards the Imperial Palace, psionic lighting cackling around her form that vaporized any Daleks foolish enough to get in her way.

* * *

 **Imperial Palace Atrium  
Korhal IV**

Nova Terra regarded the stimpack in her hands for only a moment before injecting it into her subclavian artery. Relief flooded her aching body, the exhaustion melting away and the throbbing of a dozen minor wounds ceasing. Though her head felt light, her senses felt sharper than ever before.

"Two mags left, you?" the blonde Ghost turned to the Spectre next to her.

"Last one," Tosh grunted as he rammed the magazine home and chambered the first round.

They had originally numbered two dozen Ghosts and Spectres and an equal number of Marines and Marauders, but the relentless assaults had reduced that force to just the two of them. Dalek shielding all but completely nullified conventional weaponry, and the specialized ammunition of the C-10A and AGR-14 proved only marginally more effective.

" _Alert! Alert! Class Ten psionic signature detected! Maximum extermination!_ "

The two operatives shared a meaningful look before whirling around and diving behind cover just as the Daleks unleashed a torrent of beam weaponry. A psionic lash tore through the air, vaporizing a particularly dangerous-looking Dalek mounting a massive energy cannon in place of a gunstick and manipulator arm.

When her trigger pulls yielded only faint _click_ s, Nova tossed the rifle aside and drew her balisong. The weapon glowed faint blue as her psionic energy coursed through the blade. Tosh's now-empty rifle clattered to the floor next, and he raised his own knife.

"To the end?" Nova smiled faintly, long-forgotten memories stirring in her mind.

"To the end," Tosh nodded.

* * *

 **Antioch  
Aiur**

" _Hold fast, Purifiers, and we shall be a dam against which the enemy flood breaks!_ " roared Talandar as his consciousness finished downloading into his last functional shell. The imposing Praetor suit towered over the Sentinels and Adepts that fought alongside it, and each swing of its mighty arms sent a dozen Daleks flying. Beam weapons splashed harmlessly against the robotic warrior's shields, and as the reinvigorated Purifier legions surged ahead, pushing the Daleks back.

Talandar took the brief respite to glance skywards, where Hierarch Artanis and the phase-smith Karax worked desperately to save what remained of the Golden Armada. The constant meteor shower had finally ceased, not because the Protoss were gaining traction in space but rather that they were running out of ships. The enemy fleets seemed endless, and even the most insignificant of gains was soon lost in the face of overwhelming force. Executor Selendis had fallen silent, her final transmissions vowing to hold the Citadel of the Executor to her final breath. Matriarch Vorazun had taken her Shadow Guard deep behind enemy lines, desperately searching for anything resembling a Dalek officer or general, and none had heard from them since.

" _Alert! Alert! Unclassifiable psionic signature detected! All extermination fleets are to converge on Terran world Korhal IV!_ "

Had he still possessed the range of motion, Talandar would have scratched his head curiously. The enemy clearly possessed advanced communications technology, yet for whatever reason they vocalized every message. He made a mental note to discuss the implications with Karax later, and the contents of the Daleks' latest message finally sunk in.

 _Unclassifiable psionic signature_? Only one such being was known to the Protoss…

The momentary distraction was all that the enemy needed. Heavy beam weaponry cleaved through the Purifier formations, instantly annihilating dozens of their number far too quickly for their personalities to have uploaded. Talandar had little time to mourn the loss of so many Purifiers, for a second barrage tore through his shields and annihilated the Praetor armor.

The Purifier's ruined and smoking shell collapsed to the ground, crushing several below it, and he soon knew no more.

* * *

 **Imperial Palace Atrium  
Korhal IV**

Nova panted with exertion, bringing her knife closer to her body and backing away from the gutted Dalek travel machine. A quick stab to penetrate the armor plating, and a pulse of psionic power to pulp the creature within. She and Tosh had killed a dozen Daleks in such a manner, but the enemy hordes were endless. A wall exploded inwards, and she could see familiar flashing lights in the smoke and dust.

" _Exterminate! Exterminate!_ "

The Ghost backed up as a dozen beams crossed the space she occupied fractions of a second ago. She stood back-to-back with Tosh in the middle of the room, her eyes darting between the Daleks floating in through the new hole in the wall and the ones advancing down the main corridor.

"Looks like there's a hundred, hundred fifty of them?" Tosh chuckled humorlessly, "How many you reckon we can take with us?"

Nova had no chance to answer, as the Daleks suddenly halted their advance. An indescribable sound filled the room, and the creatures turned around to face a blue police box as it faded into existence.

" _Alert! Alert! Doctor detected!_ "

" _Unclassifiable psionic signature detected within TARDIS! Maximum extermination!_ "

" _Movement disrupted! Movement disrupted!_ "

The Daleks closest to the TARDIS slowly floated up in the air, whirling around several times before their shells slowly started crumpling.

" _Armor compromised! Armor comp-_ "

Nova saw a flash of movement from the TARDIS' open doors, her head whipping around to follow a series of cut-off screams. Whatever was killing the Daleks was too fast even for the Ghost's cybernetically-enhanced senses to follow, and all she saw were travel machines left intact save for a neat hole punched through the torso.

"The Daleks know we're here now!" a man in a brown tweed jacket yelled, "They've just pulled their fleets from Char and Aiur!"

"Who are you?" Tosh demanded, brandishing his balisong threateningly. Amy and Rory instinctively backed away, though the Doctor remained unintimidated.

"I'm the Doctor, and I've got the solution to your Dalek problem!"

* * *

The Imperial Palace shook as the enemy fleet converged on Augustgrad, intensifying their bombardment as they approached. From the panicked radio chatter, Jim Raynor learned that another—much larger—fleet had just entered the Korhal system. Consisting of over one thousand battlecruiser-sized objects, it was unlikely to be friendly reinforcements.

" _Exterminate! Exterminate!_ "

Jim gently slid the last Marine's visor open, trying not to look at the man's face—frozen in an expression of horror and pain—as he retrieved the dead soldier's dog tags. Scorched husks of CMC armor and Dalek travel machines littered the hallway, and the makeshift rubble barricades had finally collapsed under the strain during the last assault.

The first Dalek rounded the corner and was met with a hail of Gauss fire. Most of the depleted uranium spikes melted on contact with the Dalek's shields, but one slipped through and pierced the lens of its eyestalk.

" _Vision disrupted! I cannot see!_ "

Glancing down at the ammunition counter and groaning at the glowing "0" that stared back, Jim tossed the empty rifle aside and drew his signature revolver. The rounds wouldn't even scratch a Dalek travel machine, but he was determined to go down fighting. The Dalek scarcely had time to fire its weapon before a gutted travel machine flew through the air and knocked it over. Psionic energy burst forth from the wreck and incinerated both of them. Panicked shouts and the buzzing of energy weapons echoed through the hallway, reaching a crescendo seconds later before falling silent.

Jim cautiously rounded the corner, revolver at the ready, and was greeted by a razor-sharp wing tip stopping millimeters from his forehead.

"Sarah?" he whispered, refusing to believe his senses.

"Jim?" she whispered back, wings retracting.

He slowly lowered the revolver, reaching out to cup her cheek. Neither noticed the half-dead Dalek aiming its gunstick.

"Ex…ter…min…ate…"

The beam flew past Kerrigan and glanced Raynor's side. The man screamed in pain, his every nerve on fire, as he collapsed to his knees.

"Jim!" Sarah crouched down, catching the much heavier man and slowly lowering him to the floor.

"Sarah," he coughed, even the miniscule effort needed to muster a weak smile bringing forth a fresh wave of agony, "You came back…I'm…glad I got to see you…one last time…"

"Nonononono," Sarah begged, tears forming in her eyes, "You're going to be fine. The…the Doctor bought me here to drive the Daleks back. And when I was done, I was going to take you with me. We can see the universe!"

"I would've loved that," Jim gasped out as his major organs started to shut down, "Maybe we could've found some uninhabited world, far away from here…built a little cottage. Just you and me."

"We can still do that," she whispered, the tears finally falling at the sight of his knowing smile.

Sarah slowly lowered her head, brushing her lips against his. Jim closed his eyes, and was gone.

* * *

"Sarah! The Dalek flagship is right over the Palace! If we're going to-," the Doctor rounded the corner to see Sarah Kerrigan kneeling over a man in black CMC armor, the choked sobs barely audible over the din of battle.

"Amy, Rory…" the Doctor slowly turned around, fear in his eyes, " _Run_."

All three were frozen in place as the woman stood, head bowed. She slowly looked up at them, and the Doctor knew the terrible truth the moment the two of them locked gazes. Psionic lighting cackled around her body, and the very foundations of the Imperial Palace shook. Screaming with the anger and pain of loss, Sarah Kerrigan unleashed a column of golden light that punched through the ceiling and inflicted catastrophic damage on the saucer hovering above.

"Sarah, listen to me…" the Doctor begged as he struggled forward one step at a time, "If you unleash your power like that, you'll annihilate the entire system!"

Kerrigan's wings unfurled, and tendrils of glowing psionic energy shot out of each blade. They whipped through the skies above Augustgrad, annihilating vast swathes of Dalek forces while effortlessly shaking off weapons fire from responding battle saucers. Gutted warships fell from the skies, their hulls pierced through dozens of times or ripped apart entirely.

" _I saw into your mind!_ " Sarah roared, blasting the Doctor into the wall with a psionic shockwave, " _All your flowery words about atonement and guardianship…all lies!_ "

The Doctor saw stars, struggling to his feet for several moments before falling back down again. Amy and Rory fared worse, the couple struggling to even breathe under the crushing weight of so much power.

" _You just wanted a weapon!_ " Kerrigan snarled, " _You knew this would happen! You just hoped that I'd swat the Dalek fleet out of the sky first…_ "

"No…that's not true," the Doctor gasped, finally managing to stand up, "Listen to me…that power is consuming you. If you keep on like this, you won't be able to come back!"

" _I'm through listening to you!_ " Sarah screamed, unleashing yet more of her power and filling the room with a blinding light, " _A weapon is what you wanted, and a weapon you'll have!_ "


	5. Chapter Five: Assuming the Mantle

**A/N:** In reply to Willum's review, I struggled a lot to pin down which Doctor I wanted this to be. I actually had just about the entire story planned out before I chose the Doctor, and I spent a lot of time flipping between Tenth and Eleventh Doctors (and briefly, Twelfth as well). Tenth is probably my overall favorite Doctor, and I definitely do see what you mean. In my head, if I had gone with the Tenth Doctor, I probably would have made this a Donna story.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _Starcraft_ or _Doctor Who_.

 **Chapter Five: Assuming the Mantle**

The Time Lords formally knew the Skasis Paradigm as the Universal Theory and informally as the god-maker. Uncountable creations ago, the Xel'naga derived and subsequently solved the Paradigm, gaining total control over the fundamental building blocks of reality. Ascendant Xel'naga normally spent millennia meditating and studying under their elders so that they could understand both the Paradigm and the burden such knowledge placed on them. Out of desperation, Ouros had whispered the solution into Sarah Kerrigan's mind fully aware that she had time for neither.

Thus, in the claws of the former Queen of Blades, the ability to construct and deconstruct the universe at will was wielded like a sledgehammer. She wanted to lash out at the Daleks, to wipe out every single invader, and her powers responded. She wanted James Raynor to return to her side, and so he did.

* * *

The Doctor glanced back at Amy and Rory, their expressions a cross of fear and expectation that the Time Lord would suddenly pull off something clever and save the day. He spared them a brief comforting smile, knowing full well that even he could do little against an enraged Xel'naga. He racked his brain for answers and was so absorbed in his thoughts that he nearly missed the tiny golden wisp float away from Sarah's body and pierce Jim's heart.

A second passed, and the man suddenly shot up to a sitting position while gasping for air. His eyes darted side to side, taking in his surroundings as events leading up to his death slowly emerged from the murky haze of his mind. His face steeled with determination as he saw the woman he loved, tears streaming freely down her face as she unmade every Dalek her powers could get ahold of. The psionic shockwaves had knocked him several meters away, but even that short distance might as well have been countless kilometers owing to the crushing atmosphere.

Jim painfully stood up, leaning against a nearby piece of rubble for support as his vision swam. Holding his arm before his face in a futile effort to block out the light, he slowly staggered forward.

"Don't! She'll kill you!" the Doctor gasped out, and Jim ignored him.

The ablative paint of Jim's CMC armor began sloughing off as he drew closer, exposing the bare metal shell underneath. The material buckled under the strain, chunks of it falling to the ground and crumbling to dust. By the time Jim reached Sarah, he was clad only in a few scraps of armor and the battledress he wore underneath. Lacking anything resembling a plan, he simply threw his arms around her, ignoring the heat radiating from her and the sharp edges of her carapace punching through his clothing and slicing up the skin underneath.

"Sarah," he whispered into her ear, "Stop this, please."

"Jim?" she choked out after a seeming eternity, though in reality only several seconds.

Jim stood nose-to-nose with Sarah, watching as the gold slowly faded from her eyes and was replaced with their previous purple.

"I don't know what you did, darlin', but I'm here, and I'm never going to let you go again."

"You're…you're alive," Sarah buried her face into his chest as fresh tears fell.

"I'm alive," Jim reassured her, running his hands up and down her back, "When we've dealt with the Daleks, let's leave. Let's find that uninhabited world and build that house, just you and me."

Sarah pulled back, holding her claws out in front of him.

"Really?" her face suddenly lit up with faint hope, "You don't mind… _this_?"

"Might take a little getting used to," he admitted with a chuckle, "But you just worry about picking out a view and paint colors, darlin'."

The light died down, and Jim could feel a warmth wash over him as Sarah's powers washed away aches and pains both new and old. The tendrils of light dissolved into millions of tiny pinpoints of golden light and flew upwards towards the rapidly-approaching Dalek reinforcements.

Neither Jim nor Sarah noticed the sight, their focus instead on his hand as he slowly bought it up to cup her cheek and he hesitantly drew closer. With an annoyed hiss, Sarah grabbed the back of his head and crushed her lips against his.

* * *

 **War Room  
Imperial Palace, Korhal IV**

"I'm receiving reports from the fleet!" Admiral Matt Horner announced as the comm channels suddenly lit up, "The Daleks are retreating back into space!"

A brief cheer erupted, silenced only as reports streamed in from the surviving Dominion Fleet units in orbit. Matt's eyebrows first furrowed in confusion then shot up towards the ceiling in surprise.

"I don't know what's going on up there," the Admiral turned towards Valerian, "But they're all reporting tiny golden lights ripping through the Dalek fleet. The ships are simply…crumbling to dust…"

"Golden light…" Valerian rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

He was confident he knew who the culprit was.

* * *

 **Imperial Palace Atrium  
Korhal IV**

With the very forces of creation unleashed with abandon, some side-effects were expected. Several corridors away, November Terra gingerly stood back up, gasping for breath as the crushing presence evaporated and previous oxygen entered her lungs once again. She turned her head towards Tosh just as the man groaned and began to stir. She began running towards the Spectre, only to collapse to her knees while screaming in pain and holding her head.

Images of the past rose unbidden to the surface, threatening to break Nova's still-fragile mind. The doctors had warned her that the mind wipes had potentially left permanent damage and, even with terrazine microdoses, some memories may never return. Something had lifted the fog, allowing the supposedly-lost memories to resurface all at once.

Nova awoke to the sight of Tosh kneeling over her, her head cradled on a salvaged cushion. She looked up at the Spectre, a newfound clarity in her eyes.

She remembered Shi. She remembered _everything_.

* * *

 **Antioch  
Aiur**

The might of the Xel'naga rippled beyond Korhal, reaching the furthest corners of the Koprulu sector. On Aiur, the Praetor Talandar felt his systems shutting down one by one. His thoughts became muddled and confused as his broken body's processors gradually died. The Dalek weapons fire had fried his mobile transmitter, and he doubted anyone would find him in time to carry out a wired transfer.

Yet before oblivion overtook him, Talandar felt a sudden surge of energy. New life pumped through his circuits, granting him just a few more moments of consciousness. In his mind's eye, he saw memories that were not his own. He was on Aiur, holding the gate alongside the Terran James Raynor as feral Zerg descended upon their position. He was on Moria, overseeing the plundering of the planet's wealth. He was on Korhal, amidst the aftermath of a massive battle against the armies of the United Earth Directorate and their enslaved Zerg. He stood before a chittering mass of chitin as they bore down on him, ripping through his Dragoon shell and tearing apart what remained of his flesh.

Though the rational part of his mind rejected it, Talandar realized only one could be showing him such memories.

"Kerri-"

"-tor Talandar! Praetor Talandar, can you hear me?"

The Purifier awoke to the sight of the phase-smith Karax standing over him and making the final adjustments to his temporary robotic body.

"Thank Adun we found you when we did! Another few seconds and your core would have lost power!"

* * *

 **Primary Hive Cluster  
Char**

The Overqueen Zagara stood overlooking the devastation before her. Millions of Zerg lay dead, and the scavenger strains were already set to work dragging the corpses back to spawning pools so their biomass could be reclaimed. Destroyed Dalek travel machines littered Char's inhospitable surface, and Abathur had already spirited the most intact examples away to his evolution chamber for further examination.

"I see," Zagara muttered as a mind far more powerful than her own brushed against her conscience.

An equation, simple yet elegant and clearly part of an infinitely-complex whole, overtook the Overqueen's thoughts. She could not comprehend what she saw, though she instinctively knew that true understanding would destroy her mind. She understood enough to grasp the equation's purpose.

"Very well, former Queen of Blades," Zagara whispered to herself, "Adostra…a fitting name indeed."

* * *

 **Imperial Palace Atrium  
Korhal IV**

The Doctor loudly cleared his throat, and the couple shot apart. Amy and Rory blushed on their behalf.

"Right," the Time Lord coughed, "Dominion Fleet comms have lit up: one moment the Dalek fleets were on the verge of total victory, and the next, they suddenly crumble to dust. Over fifteen hundred Dalek ships and millions of Daleks, gone, just like that! _Hah!_ "

Despite the devastation around him, the Doctor clapped his hands together and laughed.

"James Raynor, Sarah Kerrigan, how does it feel to have just saved the sector?"

"Um, Doctor…" Rory approached while holding out a dead solder's radio, "They're saying one ship survived and is making for high orbit. It's quite a bit bigger than the other ones."

"That must be the Dalek's command ship," the Doctor's face paled and his good mood evaporated, "If they're allowed to warn Skaro, the Dalek Emperor will come here with the entire fleet!"


	6. Chapter Six: Belly of the Beast

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Starcraft_ or _Doctor Who_.

 **Chapter Six: Belly of the Beast**

 **War Room  
Imperial Palace, Korhal IV**

"I've got several battlecruisers obstructing that thing's jump vector," Admiral Matt Horner groaned in frustration, "But even after taking that much damage, it's _still_ got them all outgunned."

On the holographic display, the red disc that was the Dalek flagship slowly edged upwards out of Korhal's gravitational well and towards escape. The room's occupants watched in helpless silence as the _Bucephalus_ pulled away after barely surviving a broadside from the battle saucer. The _White Star_ was not so fortunate, the battlecruiser's icon and the eight thousand souls it represented simply winking out of existence.

"What about the _Hyperion_?" General Raynor motioned to the icon representing the ancient Behemoth-class warship.

"Dalek missile barrage broke its back," Matt shook his head sadly, "It won't survive a jump, and it isn't going to reach the Dalek flagship in time without one."

"It does have nuclear capability, though," the Doctor chimed in, "Three Apocalypse-class warheads, if I'm not mistaken."

"I'm not even going to ask how you know about those," Jim buried his face in his hands, "But as we've so clearly seen over the last few hours, nukes won't even dent that thing's armor, assuming we can even hit it at that kind of range."

"You have the _Griffin_ , don't you?" the Time Lord countered.

"The _Griffin_?" Nova echoed.

"Top-secret project: rapid insertion and transport craft," Valerian explained, uncaring that he was divulging Dominion state secrets, "Stealth capabilities, atmospheric flight, and enough ordnance to support an entire Special Forces division."

"It's also half-finished and untested!" Jim interjected, "It'll be a miracle if that thing doesn't explode the moment it takes off!"

"And currently, it's the only thing you've got that can move a warhead from the _Hyperion_ to the Dalek flagship in time," the Doctor stated simply.

Jim said nothing, instead turning towards his subordinates.

"Nova, Tosh, round up everyone you can and have them meet me in the high-security hangar in ten minutes."

* * *

 **Main Armory,** _ **Griffin  
**_ **Thirty Minutes Later**

With well-practiced ease, Jim Raynor climbed into the hastily-scavenged suit of Special Forces CMC armor. If anyone wondered what could possibly destroy his signature skull-visored suit while leaving him relatively unharmed, they kept their thoughts to themselves. As he slid the ballistic alloy shield home with a loud _click_ , Sarah decloaked behind him with a gauss rifle clip in hand. It was a testament to her newfound abilities that she could selectively conceal herself, allowing only Jim to sense her presence.

"Bonded polycarbide spikes," Sarah held out the clip for him to take, "You'll still need to focus fire to get past their shields, but these will cut right through their armor."

"Handy," he offered her a faint smile, "Any to spare for my men?"

The former Queen of Blades wordlessly placed a clawed hand on a nearby ammunition hopper. The depleted uranium spikes stored within glowed for a split second before transfiguring into the dull bronze composite. Her other hand brushed against the store of "Punisher" components, though the shaped explosive charges looked no different once the golden light died down.

"A little something I skimmed off the Doctor's memories," Sarah explained, "I think he calls it Nitro-9. A bit more volatile than a Marauder's normal fare, but just one direct hit will blow a Dalek travel machine to pieces."

"Final headcount is at just over one hundred and fifty," Nova reported as she strode through the blast doors, "Two Spectre teams, a Ghost team, three Marine platoons, a Marauder platoon, and Tosh dug up a Goliath squad from somewhere."

There was a long silence when the Ghost operative looked up from the manifest to find the Queen of Blades standing mere meters away. Sarah seemed surprisingly calm at the sight of a laser sight trained on her forehead.

"It's okay, blondie," Jim unnecessarily stepped in front of his lover, the bulk of his CMC armor hiding her from view, "She's here to help."

"Who's here to help, sir?" Nova asked, brow wrinkled in confusion as she looked down at her drawn rifle.

 _I took some precautions_ , Sarah whispered into Jim's mind, _Did you know there's a race that you can only remember when you're looking directly at them? Turns out it's not too hard to borrow that little trick._

"It's not important," General Raynor deflected, "Tell the men to dump whatever ammo they bought aboard and take what they need from here."

Jim and a once-again-cloaked Sarah shared a smirk at the Ghost's confused expression.

"R&D's cooked up something for us. Should pack a bit more of a wallop against Daleks."

* * *

 **Ursa Shipyards  
Korhal System**

While the main Dalek fleet ravaged Korhal, a small squadron had broken away to annihilate the Ursa Shipyards around the planet's moon. The debris field now served as surprisingly-effective cover for a pair of Sovereign-class battlecruisers as they harried the fleeing Dalek flagship. Lengthy bursts of laser fire splashed harmlessly off the saucer's golden hull, and the wreckage of destroyed ships and docking facilities absorbed the retaliatory salvos of missiles and beam weaponry.

Amidst the chaos, the _Griffin_ emerged from tactical jump mere meters away from the Dalek flagship and slipped in through a hole in its armor.

* * *

 **Dalek Flagship  
Thirty Minutes Later**

" _Exterminate! Ex-_ "

The Dalek's declaration was cut short by Sarah Kerrigan launching herself several meters forward and skewering it with a wingtip. The bony blade effortlessly slipped through the travel machine's shields and punched through the reinforced torso compartment. Jim tried his best to ignore the liquid leaking out as Sarah retracted her wing. A fusillade of gauss spikes perforated the travel machine moments later, hiding the evidence.

"This is Nova," the radio crackled to life, "Bravo Team has reached the drop zone. Looks like our hunch paid off: it's definitely a reactor of some kind."

"Acknowledged. Set the nuke and get out of there."

As it turned out, for an ascendant Xel'naga, reducing an entire Dalek fleet to its constituent elements lay slightly beyond the realm of casual actions. Coupled with the uncontrolled release of energy, Sarah had exhausted most of her available power. Though she still had enough left to rip through an opposition the Daleks threw their way, her relatively-weakened state forced the Dominion to rely on more primitive means to destroy the fleeing battle saucer.

"This is Tosh," another voice entered the channel, "Alpha Team is in position. Warhead armed and ready for detonation."

Jim held a fist up, and the Marines and Marauders accompanying him instantly halted. He extended two fingers, motioning towards either side of the armored door before them. The Marines wordlessly complied, pressing themselves against the wall as the Marauders readied their grenade launchers. One of the Marines dashed forward, attaching several detpacks to the blast door before returning to his spot against the wall. A silent countdown began.

 _Three_.

There was a faint _whir_ as the Marauders' autoloaders spun up.

 _Two_.

The Marines closest to the door gripped their gauss rifles more tightly.

 _One_.

Jim spared a glance to the side to see Sarah's wings rise to an attack position.

 _Zero_.

The explosives detonated, leaving a hole large enough for two CMC-suited Marines to walk through shoulder-to-shoulder. The Marauders sprang into action first, their speed belying their bulk, and pumped dozens of armor-piercing grenades into the opening.

" _Maximum extermination!_ " a deep voice boomed as the Daleks within returned fire, the deadly beams striking three Marauders square in the chest.

" _Go! Go! Go!_ " Jim roared as he bound over the corpses and rushed into the breach.

Between the smoke and the cacophony of the frantic firefight, the Terran soldiers were forced to rely on naked eye and motion sensors to find their targets. The new ammunition proved quite effective against Dalek travel machines, a devastating surprise that won the boarders several early engagements, but even the improved CMC suits used by Dominion Special Forces provided only minimal defense against gunstick fire. The former rebel leader flinched as the Marine next to him caught two beams to the chest and dropped dead without so much as a yelp.

" _Carriers are down! Carriers are do-_ " the high-pitched buzz of Dalek gunsticks cut off the Marine's panicked announcement.

A pair of Marines lagged behind the rest, forgoing their gauss rifles to push a trolley bearing an Apocalypse-class warhead. Both Marines now sported smoking holes in their chests.

"Somebody get the detonator! We lose that and this will all be for nothing!"

"An atomic warhead?" the Supreme Dalek condescendingly boomed, "Your plan is futile! We shall return to Skaro, and the full fury of the Dalek Empire will descend upon your pathetic Dominion!"

" _Focus fire! Aim for the eyestalk!_ "

The remnants of Jim's team crouched behind what little cover they could find, mostly destroyed travel machines and the corpses of their less-fortunate comrades, and poured bonded polycarbide spikes and Nitro-9-infused grenades into the Supreme Dalek. To their horror, the surviving Terran soldiers realized the crimson Dalek's travel machine boasted much higher specifications than its subordinates'. Its shields effortlessly absorbed the incoming barrage while its gunstick scythed down the Marines and Marauders.

" _Xel'naga essence detected!_ " the Supreme Dalek announced as Sarah leapt above the Terran soldiers, her wings and claws poised to attack, " _Maximum extermination!_ "

The surviving Dominion Special Forces soldiers had no time to react as the Supreme Dalek overcharged its already-horrifically-powerful weapon. Sarah had only started her descent when the last soldier fell, a massive chunk of their torso outright vaporized. Her head snapped back as the Supreme Dalek struck her with its plunger arm. Sarah's blade wings swung forward, and her eyes widened in surprise as they disintegrated against the Dalek's shields.

"Your essence is Xel'naga, but your body is still Zerg!" the crimson Dalek boasted as it bought its gunstick to bear.

Jim regained consciousness to the sight of Sarah screaming in agony as Dalek beam weaponry punched through her psionic defenses and pierced her torso. Golden light filled the wounds, and her flesh flowed back together within moments. She gave the Supreme Dalek no chance to retaliate, aiming her attack straight at the travel machine's torso. Sarah's face twisted up in pain as her clawed hand met the Supreme's shields, her carapace disintegrating and regenerating thousands of times a second. Gritting her teeth, she pushed through the shield and gouged through the armor. Her fingers wrapped around something fleshy, and she squeezed.

Sarah's eyes flashed gold, and for one brief second before its mind was ripped apart, the Supreme Dalek understood why the Koprulu Sector had feared the Queen of Blades.

"Yep, still hurts," Jim groaned as he glanced down at the hole in his armor.

Sarah turned to face him, a questioning eyebrow raised.

"The Doctor says you brought me back a little _too_ well," the man chuckled as he leaned down to retrieve the detonator, "I won't age, and I'll just piece myself together again if I'm killed. Looks like you're stuck with me, darlin'."

The moment was ruined by the entire ship rocking and Nova's voice.

"Sir, the Daleks are spinning up their drives!" the Ghost reported in a panicked tone.

"Tosh, Nova, gather your men and get back to the _Griffin_!" Jim ordered without hesitation, "My squad's down, but I've still got the nuke! If we detonate just as this ship jumps, the stress should tear it apart."

"Yes, sir," the two psionic operatives reluctantly obeyed.

* * *

" _Griffin_ is clear! I repeat, _Griffin_ is clear!"

Jim said nothing as he closed the warhead's control panel. Sarah wrapped her slim arms around him as he thumbed the detonator switch. A steady _beep_ echoed as the countdown began.

"Jim," Sarah bit her lower lip nervously, "Do you believe in me?"

"Always," he answered without hesitation.

"Good," she touched her forehead against his, "Because, right now, I don't."

Jim scarcely had time to wrap his arms around Sarah before a bright flash enveloped them.


	7. Chapter Seven: Goodbyes

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Starcraft_ or _Doctor Who_.

 **Chapter Seven: Goodbyes**

 **Korhal IV  
Two Years Later**

"Whether you thought him a hero or a criminal, James Raynor has irrevocably left his mark on the Koprulu sector. In life and in death, his actions have reshaped the entire Dominion. Two years ago, he sacrificed himself to ensure the destruction of the Dalek flagship, and the people of this sector owe him a debt that can never be repaid. I only knew him in the last years of his life, but I know this would be a fitting tribute to a great man."

Valerian paused to allow the curtains to fall away.

"This academy will be the first of its kind. Where the old Dominion only saw weapons to be molded, we see gifted people in need of guidance. The academy's students will be taught to appreciate their gifts, so that they may pursue whatever future they desire. It is my hope, and indeed the hope of many others, that this academy will ensure the tragedies of the past will never be repeated."

The camera panned away from Valerian's podium to the lettering above the Academy's front door.

JAMES EUGENE RAYNOR PSIONIC ACADEMY

* * *

Valerian Mengsk sighed and switched off the television. News stations all over the sector had played the speech on repeat for weeks, and he dearly hoped they would soon find another story to latch on to. The Academy's dedication ceremony remained one of the most-watched recordings in the entire Koprulu sector, so he doubted such a day would come soon. Many prominent Terran and Protoss officials had attended, and Overqueen Zagara even made the long journey from Char.

"The Terran meant much to the Queen of Blades, and so he meant much to the Swarm," the Overqueen had stated simply in the one interview she granted.

A knock signaled Valerian's next appointment, and the door swung open to admit a pair of Protoss.

"En Taro Tassadar, Hierarch Artanis, High Executor Selendis," the emperor greeted.

"En Taro Raynor, Emperor Mengsk," the meaning behind such a tribute was not lost on Valerian.

"Please, have a seat. May I offer you some refreshment? To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Unfortunately nothing good," Artanis accepted a glass of water and set it down before him, "During the Dalek assault, they had us pressed to the breaking point. And yet on the verge of victory, they retreated and opted to reinforce their assault on Korhal. Our warriors from every front bring the same story: the Daleks announced they had detected an unclassifiable psionic presence on this world. Not to mention Preserver Rohana's account of a golden light annihilating the Dalek fleet."

The unasked question hung between them.

"What you read on the official press release is the full extent of publicly-available knowledge at this time," Valerian slipped into the well-rehearsed cover story, "One of our raids on the remaining Mobius Foundation facilities uncovered a second Xel'naga keystone. With all of our options exhausted, we chose to activate it and hope for the best. Its interaction with Dalek technology was unexpected but not unwelcome."

"What of the psionic signature, Emperor Mengsk?" Selendis interjected, "We know of only _one_ entity with such abilities."

"Smoke and mirrors, as the old phrase goes. We only have the mission reports from Gabriel Tosh and November Ter—well, also Tosh now, I suppose—to go on, but they have given me no reason to suspect deception," Valerian waved his hands dismissively, "Simply put, we weren't sure if detonating even an Apocalypse-class warhead inside their flagship would destroy it. The late General Raynor realized this and also sabotaged their flagship's communications array. It was broadcasting all kinds of nonsense, and no doubt that warning was what made it to Dalek forces on Aiur."

"And _conveniently_ , both artifact and Dalek flagship were vaporized at the end of the battle, so there is no way to verify this story," Selendis' eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Surely you must understand our concerns. Better men have been enthralled by the Qu-"

" _Executor Selendis, you are out of line!_ " Artanis roared, causing everyone in earshot to flinch, "I expect you to formally apologize to Emperor Mengsk before we depart this world. For now, you have my leave to oversee the security upgrades to our embassy."

The executor made to say something, then thought better of it. With a slight bow, she excused herself and walked out of the office.

"She meant well," Valerian commented diplomatically as the door closed, "The past years have been stressful for all of us, and I implore you to show her leniency."

"I shall take your request into consideration," Artanis rumbled, "And truly, what we have witnessed was simple trickery born of desperation?"

"If we uncover anything that would suggest otherwise, you would be the first to know," Valerian nodded.

"Very well," the Hierarch's tone indicated he wasn't completely convinced, "I know your time is valuable, Emperor Mengsk, and I shall not take up any more of it."

The door clicked shut, and a silence descended upon the office. The silence was promptly broken by a blue police box materializing in the corner. Valerian's hand ghosted for the silent alarm, hovering over the button for several seconds before he thought better of it. He sighed, sinking in his chair as the Doctor ran through the TARDIS doors carrying a contraption of tubes and metal odds-and-ends.

"Rory, slide that into there and hold that down! Amy, pull that all the way out and turn that crank as fast as you can!" the Doctor ordered as he set the device down, ignoring the Emperor entirely.

"What are you-"

"Not bad. Just a few seconds off," the Doctor muttered as a metallic _ding_ sounded.

"A few seconds off for _what_?" Valerian demanded, suddenly regretting his choice to not hit the alarm.

The Emperor's question was answered by a _crack_ , a flash, and pair of entwined Terrans, one infested and the other in CMC armor, appearing in midair and crashing to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

"Darlin', I love you, but never do that again," Jim groaned as he helped Sarah up.

"Though I will probably regret asking," Valerian rubbed his temples, "How are you here?"

"Emergency temporal shift," Sarah stated with no further explanation as she leaned against Jim for support, "What year is it?"

"Adjutant," the Dominion Emperor groaned as he retrieved a bottle of whisky from its hidden drawer and poured himself a generous glass, "Cancel all my remaining appointments for the day."

* * *

"He knows," Sarah muttered worriedly.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. However, without proof, Artanis will not jeopardize Aiur's rebuilding or relations with the Dominion in order to chase ghosts," the Emperor chuckled at the unintentional wordplay.

"And you are sure this is what you want?" the younger man asked, already knowing the answer.

"Junior, a nuke detonated next to me," Jim chuckled, "If I was to show up now, it would lead to questions I don't think anyone is prepared to answer."

"I suppose you're right," the Terran Emperor sighed.

Valerian barely resisted the urge to instinctively back away as Sarah Kerrigan crossed the distance between them in a few short strides. Her clawed hands extended, proffering a blank sheet of paper.

"What's this?" the Emperor asked with a raised eyebrow.

"There's no guarantee that the Daleks won't come back, and even if they don't, there's plenty of other threats out there just as bad," Sarah gestured towards the paper, "This is a psychic paper. If there's another threat of this scale again, just take this and I'll know where to find you."

"The offer is appreciated," Valerian sincerely hoped he would never have to use the paper, "So what will you do now?"

"I think a quiet retirement," Jim grinned and draped his arms over Sarah's frame, "Find some uninhabited world, build a little house…"

"Well, it's not like I can stop you," the young Emperor nodded back, silently wondering if the Koprulu sector would have to deal with a different sort of hybrid some years down the line.

"Wait, wait! The Doctor stepped between them as Jim and Sarah turned to leave, "There's still one little order of business to attend to."

"And what is that?" Valerian tilted his head, curiosity piqued.

"Well, as Emperor of the Terran Dominion, you have certain legal powers. Legal powers that may not mean very much outside the Koprulu sector, but it'd mean a lot to some people."

He dragged Amy and Rory forward.

"We have enough witnesses," the Doctor retrieved a pair of rings—one dangling from a chain—from his jacket pocket, "And I happened to stumble upon some rings…"

Few could claim they had ever seen the former Queen of Blades utterly at a loss for words. Valerian silently grumbled that he could never publically boast of witnessing such an occasion.

* * *

 **Singing Towers  
Darillium**

"Alright," the Doctor clapped his hands together as he exited the TARDIS, "Your suite, and I've taken the liberty of putting in a dinner reservation for two at the nearby restaurant."

Sarah shrieked and instinctively tucked her wings in as Jim swept her off her feet and carried her bridal-style out of the TARDIS.

"I'm not so cruel as to deny newlyweds a wedding night," the Doctor and his companions discovered that Zerg, or at least one particular Zerg-human hybrid, were capable of blushing, "But I expect you back at work first thing in the morning."

"How long is a night on this planet?" Jim asked after a moment's silence.

"Oh…" the Doctor did some quick mental calculations, "About thirty Korhal years. It'll pass in an instant."

"And the people here won't mind…" Sarah held up her claws for emphasis.

"Not one bit," the Doctor waved his hand dismissively, "By this time, humans have intermarried with so many species that nobody'll look twice at you."

With that, the Doctor, his companions, and the TARDIS were gone.

Sarah Raynor nèe Kerrigan didn't need psionics to figure out the question on Jim's mind. Without warning, she placed an open palm against his chest, right over his heart, and lightly shoved him. He stumbled backwards, yelping in surprise as he fell onto the bed. Sarah joined him moments later, crawling towards him like a predator presented with a particularly tasty meal.

"You want to know a little secret, Jim?" she whispered as she straddled her husband's hips.

Jim could only gulp in response. Taking it as a sign of encouragement, Sarah leaned down until they were nose-to-nose, her tendrils cascading over their faces like a chitinous curtain. She grabbed his wrist and placed his hand against the plates protecting her stomach.

" _Retractable_ ," she whispered in his ear, her breath tickling his skin as she slowly guided his hand downwards.

Jim could feel the rigid plates shifting under his palm.

" _Carapace._ "

His hand met soft flesh, and it would be a long while before either of them could formulate another coherent thought.


	8. Epilogue: The Eternal Stewardship

**A/N:** So here we are, at the epilogue! A big thank you for all who read this little foray into the _Starcraft_ and _Doctor Who_ universes. I might write another _Starcraft_ fic in the future. A comedy, most likely.

On an unrelated note, in my head, this adventure takes place during the several weeks Amy and Rory leave during _The Power of Three_ , but I think it can work just about anytime between _The Big Bang_ and _Angels Take Manhattan_.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _Starcraft_ or _Doctor Who_.

 **Epilogue: The Eternal Stewardship**

 **Unknown Location  
Eight Hundred Years Later**

James Raynor awoke to sunlight streaming in through the window and the gut feeling that something was amiss. His finely-honed instincts, however, told him they were in no real danger and thus he elected to stay in bed for a little longer. He smiled as he glanced down to see a mass of tendrils nestled against his bare chest. He gently stroked Sarah's back, drawing little circles where skin weave met carapace. Bone wings were draped over both of them, and Jim set about the unenviable task of figuring out how to extract himself from under his wife without waking her.

" _Another_ round, Jim?" Sarah moaned sleepily, and Jim abandoned the futile task.

"I didn't hear you complaining last night, darlin'," he quipped back.

"Eight hundred years and still a pig," she laughed, tilted her head back to look him in the eye as her arms snaked up around his neck.

The suggestive smile fell off her face as she saw her husband's serious expression.

"Somebody's here."

* * *

Jim hurriedly dressed and grabbed his revolver out of their bedside drawer as he headed towards the front door. He paused briefly to glance at the suit of CMC armor, pilfered when he and Sarah intervened in the Sontaran invasion several years ago, standing in the corner. He heard footsteps coming down the path, and he knew that that he wouldn't have time to don the armor and settled for strapping his revolver to his hip. Taking a deep breath, he pushed opened the front door and stepped outside.

"Alright, keep your hands where I can see them and listen up. If you found this place by accident, you're the luckiest—or unluckiest, depending on your perspective—sonuvabitch in the sector. If you sought us out, well, we need to lay down a few ground rules first."

Jim kept his arms by his sides, though his right hand drew ever slightly closer to the holster at his hip. The revolver looked distinctly unimpressive, especially in the face of the handheld energy weapons that now dominated infantry warfare in the Korpulu sector, but the modified rounds it fired could easily punch through the shields and torso armor of a Dalek travel machine.

"Any surveillance devices, recorders, or weapons stay with me. You'll get them back when you leave."

"It has been a long time, Terran Raynor," a once-powerful voice, now stooped with age, greeted.

"Artanis," Jim cautiously returned the greeting, "How did you find this place?"

"I am old, Terran Raynor, even by the standards of my people," the Hierarch slid the psi-blade emitters off his arms and let them fall to the ground, "Even if I meant harm, even if I had come with the entire Golden Armada at my back, what threat could I possibly pose to an ascendant Xel'naga?"

With shaking hands, Artanis removed the khaydarin focusing crystals embedded in his armor, and the stones joined the gauntlets at his feet.

"So why did you come here?" Jim pressed, relaxing his stance slightly.

"I come—alone—to talk, and nothing more."

If the Hierarch was surprised by the former Queen of Blades decloaking in front of him, he hid it well.

"Artanis," Sarah greeted coolly.

"Kerrigan," Artanis rumbled in return.

"How did you find us?" Sarah demanded after a brief uncomfortable silence, "I went through a great deal of trouble to make sure _nobody_ , especially not the Protoss, could find this place."

"You and Raynor are bonded?" the ancient Protoss abruptly switched topics, his eyes settling to the simple metal band hanging from a thin chain around Sarah's neck.

"You said you came to talk," Sarah ground out while pointedly ignoring the question, "So talk."

"Why?" Artanis asked, elaborating when he saw puzzled expressions, "With so much power, you could have ruled, and none could have stopped you. So why did you instead choose to protect the Koprulu sector?"

"A man—a good man, though he would never admit it—taught me that these powers are not a gift, but a burden. They carry an obligation of eternal stewardship," the former Queen of Blades held up her claws to drive the point home, "And this form is a reminder of all the sins I have committed to deserve such a punishment."

"And so you followed the sinner into Hell so she would not have to suffer alone," the Hierarch rumbled as he shifted his gaze towards Jim, laughing at the curious expression on the Terran's face, "I have had plenty of time in my old age to pursue Terran literature. I have always found it _fascinating_."

"So what's threatening the Koprulu sector this time?" Sarah interrupted, "Daleks? Sontarans? Weeping Angels? Vashta Nerada?"

"An army of metal men, billions strong," Artanis recalled the many fierce battles in the past and those currently raging, "Our blades felled them by the thousands, yet they continue their advance. They harvest our dead and wounded to replenish their numbers, stripping them of all emotion and free will and imprisoning them within cold metal shells! Every warrior we lose only swells their numbers!"

"Cybermen," Jim and Sarah answered as one.

"Thought we chased 'em off centuries ago," Jim whispered to himself.

"Very well: you'll have our aid against them," Sarah took a step towards the Hierarch, "Though I will have to wipe your memory of this place before you leave."

"I do not intend to leave, if you will permit me," Artanis took Jim and Sarah's raised eyebrows as license to continue, "I do not have long left: less than a rotation, if even that. I would like to remain here until I pass, to spend my final days witnessing the ascension of a Xel'naga."

The Raynors shared a meaningful glance, and one did not need psionics to sense their silent conversation.

"You need not worry about the Daelaam searching for me. The Khala has long since withered, and all Protoss are convinced I wish to spend my final days meditating in a secluded citadel," Artanis raised his hands reassuringly, "The new Hierarch is a worthy successor, and I have taught him all I know so that he need not seek out my counsel. Praetor Talandar is the only other aware of your return, Kerrigan, and I have sworn him to secrecy."

"Very well," Sarah nodded after a long while, "You may stay. We'll discuss this further once we've dealt with the Cybermen."

* * *

Artanis cautiously walked through the doorway, briefly leaning against the frame for support. The doorways were built to allow Sarah to walk through without needing to fold her wings, and so even a fully-grown Protoss could pass through unbowed. The former Hierarch glanced around, taking in the simple furnishings, and ran his hands across the nearby wall. Even his failing eyesight could still appreciate the painstaking hand-craftsmanship.

The aged Protoss reckoned he had entered a solarium of sorts: the far wall was constructed entirely of glass, giving him a breathtaking view of the sea as the planet's sun slowly rose above the horizon. A pair of sunloungers were placed side-by-side next to the glass, and Artanis gingerly lowered himself into the one without a dog-eared tome laying on it. Books from all over the universe, hundreds in all, were stacked high around the chairs. The former Hierarch randomly took one, realized it was written in a language he did not recognize, and quietly placed it back. An easel bearing a partially-completed painting of the horizon stood a meter away.

The comfortable silence was shattered by the whirring of CMC armor servos, and Artanis glanced over his shoulder to see Jim walking towards the front door with a rifle slung over his shoulder. Sarah walked beside him, and the couple paid the Protoss no mind.

"Another adventure?" Jim turned to Sarah, the corners of his mouth curling upwards in a faint smile.

"Another adventure," she smiled, quickly leaning up to peck him on the lips.

Jim wrapped his hands around his wife's smaller clawed ones, and in a flash, the two were gone.


End file.
